• A piercing is a puncture wound and in order for it to fully heal, the layers of tissue need to be able to heal into a round channel called a fistula. Since our bodies are not used to healing wounds like this (your bodies natural response is to close the puncture wound,) it’s important to allow the tissue to heal at the shortest distance possible and with the least resistance from the individual layers of tissue. When a piercing is done at an angle that does not sit perpendicular to the tissue, it becomes more difficult for the body to properly heal and may even prevent it from healing.

• If a piercing is done at an improper angle the day it was pierced, then it is significantly less likely for the piercing to heal. When a piercing is slept on during the initial healing phases, the angle can shift. This can make even a properly done piercing difficult or impossible to heal.

• A piercing that does not sit at a proper angle is more likely to develop bumps, feel uncomfortable, and snag. Additionally, it may be difficult or impossible to find properly fitted jewelry or jewelry that sits flat on the tissue. 

• When a piercing is done at a poor angle, it’s best to remove the jewelry and allow the piercing to close. If you have a piercing that is not done at a proper angle but have no issues with it then it is not unsafe to keep the piercing and it does not need to be removed and pierced again. 

• In addition to causing the angle of the piercing to shift, sleeping on a piercing can cause irritation from putting pressure on the healing wound. 

• It’s advisable to avoid sleeping on a piercing for a few months after getting pierced at minimum and throughout the full healing process in certain circumstances. 

• Even if it is not painful or uncomfortable to sleep on a piercing during the initial stages of healing, it could still be harming your healing process. 

• If a piercing is painful to sleep on after the entire healing process is complete then it’s best to visit your closest reputable piercer to ensure that your jewelry fits properly and that your piercing healed fully. 

• While many people can easily and comfortably sleep on their healed piercings, it’s important to remember that everyone heals differently and everyone experiences discomfort differently so it’s not necessarily a sign of irritation to have some discomfort sleeping even on a fully healed piercing. It may take a bit of repositioning, a different style of pillow, or a different style of jewelry to sleep on your piercings if you have sensitive ears. 

• It’s completely understandable that it’s not always possible to avoid sleeping on your piercing and perfectly natural to slip up from time to time. Your piercer should never judge you for struggling to avoid sleeping on your piercing but you should also be prepared to potentially experience complications due to sleeping on a healing piercing. If you’re concerned about not being able to avoid sleeping on your piercing then we suggest working on solutions for not sleeping on it before getting pierced. 

• See below for tips to avoid sleeping on your piercing. 

• It can be difficult if not impossible to avoid snagging a piercing but it’s important that you do your best to avoid it to avoid tearing of your piercing. 

• When jewelry shifts abruptly in a piercing from a snag or from bumping your piercing, it can cause the tissue to tear especially during the initial stages of healing

• In many cases, snagging a piercing will cause immediate discomfort and potentially bleeding. For a few days after snagging you will likely experience discomfort, swelling, redness, potential bleeding, and potentially additional secretions/crusties. *See Normal Signs of Healing for more information on secretions and crusties. 

• Snagging your piercing may cause your jewelry to come loose or even come out. After snagging your piercing, it’s best to check the jewelry for tightness. It’s a good practice to check your jewelry for tightness periodically even if it’s not getting snagged. Always ensure that your hands are clean and that you understand how your jewelry works before checking the jewelry for tightness. 

• Even those who do not have sensitive skin, can and often do experience irritation due to low quality or subpar quality jewelry. 

• There are several factors that impact jewelry quality including but not limited to material, surface polish, and threading. If any of these factors do not meet basic minimum standards then the jewelry cannot be considered safe to wear in the body long term. 

• Jewelry materials can be a very lengthy topic of discussion but in our studio we choose to stock only ASTM F-136 Implant Grade titanium, niobium, solid 14k gold, and solid 18k gold. We only stock nickel free jewelry. 

• It’s always appropriate and suggested to ask your piercer about the materials they use and/or look at information on the brands they carry/materials they use on their website. Reputable manufacturers provide documentation on their jewelry materials called mill certificates and safety data sheets. While these can be difficult to read and understand, a transparent piercer will have no issues showing these to you and discussing the brands that they carry. You can read more about our jewelry here. 

• The Association of Professional Piercers has a list of jewelry manufacturers that have been verified to meet their standards for safe materials for body piercing. Read more about that here. 

• The surface finish of jewelry plays a really large part in the quality of a piece. Jewelry that does not have a mirror finish on it will have microscopic or even visible scratches, pores, and pits in it that can harbor bacteria and scratch the fragile surface of a healing wound. See definitions below for more information on surface finish. 

• Even if a piece of jewelry is a safe material, if the surface finish is subpar, the jewelry is considered low quality and unsafe. It’s surprisingly common for jewelry manufacturer’s to create jewelry with safe materials but with unsafe surface finish. If jewelry has a dull appearance to it, then it is not considered to have a quality surface finish. See below for a definition of surface finish. 

• Threading refers to the way two components of a piece of jewelry are held together. Threadless and internally threaded jewelry is safe because the portion of the jewelry that is inserted into the piercing is smooth. Externally threaded jewelry has sharp edges that tear the tissue as the jewelry is inserted into a piercing, because of this, no reputable jewelry manufacturers make externally threaded jewelry. 

• There are many other factors involved in jewelry quality but the above are the primary factors that prevent a piercing from healing.

• One of the very first things your piercer should do when you go in for a piercing is take a look at the area you’re looking to have pierced to assess if you have the anatomy to safely get the piercing you’re looking to get and to see what size and style of jewelry will work best for you. There is no such thing as “one size fits all” jewelry. 

• Most piercings need to be downsized after the initial swelling goes down. This time frame will vary based on the type of piercing, the person, and the climate but an estimated average is 4-6 weeks after getting pierced. Your piercer should discuss this with you when you are pierced. 

• Lack of downsizing can cause a huge number of issues including migration, irritation bumps, excess swelling, tearing, etc. 

• Some piercings require multiple downsizes, your piercer should discuss this with you either at the time of piercing or when downsizing depending on your individual situation. 

• After downsizing, your jewelry should be fitted to your piercing but not tight. 

• Immediately after getting pierced, your jewelry should be slightly longer to allow for swelling. It may be more likely to snag before your piercing has swelled to its full extent and after the initial swelling has subsided. However, it should not be so long that it doesn’t fit on your body or becomes incredibly cumbersome. This happens frequently with industrial piercings and nipple piercings. If your jewelry is double the size of your anatomy, it is likely much too long. 

• The style of jewelry used in a fresh piercing can be a bit of a lengthy topic but there are some general rules that should be followed: 

1. Surface piercings should never be done with a curved barbell 
2. Many navels require jewelry with a flat disc on the bottom as opposed to a gem. This is called a floating navel piercing. Floating navels are just as common (maybe even more common in some areas) as “double gem” style navel piercings. 
3. Plain seam rings and clickers are not appropriate for fresh piercings. There must be something on the ring to prevent the seam/hinge from spinning through the piercing channel. 

• When a piercing becomes irritated or when you are a bit nervous about the healing process, it’s natural to feel the need to clean your piercing more than necessary. However, over cleaning can cause just as many complications as under cleaning. 

• Most piercings take 6 months to a year to heal so prolonged, excessive cleaning can cause the tissue to become weak/fragile from excess moisture and can kill the good bacteria our bodies naturally have. 

• Overly aggressive cleaning can also be damaging to a piercing. It’s tempting to want to scrub every bit of crusty off of a piercing but it’s very easy to cause tears by q tipping or wiping the piercing without caution. If build up and/or scabs are removed with too much force, your piercing will likely bleed. If you’re noticing that your piercing bleeds every time you clean it, it’s possible that you are being a bit too rough with your piercing. 

• Different climates and different skin types will require varying amounts of cleaning but on average you’ll want to clean your piercing 2-3 times a day during the initial stages of healing and then switch to 1-2 times a day until your piercing is fully healed. When in doubt, check in with your closest reputable piercer on their cleaning recommendations.  

• Once a piercing is fully healed, it’s unnecessary to maintain a strict cleaning schedule but it is important to continue to keep your piercings clean especially if you wear natural gemstones that may be sensitive or if the piercing is in an area that collects more moisture or products (such as makeup on nostril piercings or ear piercings that may come into contact with products like hair dye)

• It can seem like a daunting task to remember to clean your piercing for the several months required for full healing but just know that no one is perfect and your piercing likely won’t suffer significantly if you forget to clean twice a day every once in a while. 

• Throughout the day and while sleeping, piercings can collect contaminants that can prevent or prolong healing or even cause infection if not rinsed away. Skin care products, pet dander, sweat, dust, hair products, etc can all get stuck in or around your piercing. This is why it’s so important to keep them clean!

• It’s normal and expected to develop a bit of build up around your piercing (*see Normal Signs of Healing above) but you’ll want to avoid letting it become too built up around your jewelry. 

• In addition to introducing harmful  bacteria to your piercing, swimming can cause your tissue to become weak and create a higher likelihood of tears and moisture bumps. Think about your hands getting pruney after a day of swimming or cracking after a lot of hand washing – it’s important to keep a wound from excess moisture while healing. 

• Moisture irritation can happen on any piercing but is a bit more common in hard to dry areas like navels, daiths, rooks, forward helix, and behind ear lobe piercings. 

• A common source of moisture irritation is sleeping with wet hair. If you tend to sleep with wet or damp hair, it’s important to keep it off of your piercings. Braiding it, wrapping it, or drying it before bed may be helpful.

• If you have long/thick hair and air dry it after washing,  it’s also best to keep if off of your piercings while it dries. 

• In most climates, it’s important to gently dry your piercing after cleaning. Typically it’s best to dry your piercing with a paper towel, non woven gauze, or a blow dryer. All of these things can do more harm than good if used improperly. See tips for healing below for more information and when in doubt, seek advice from your closest reputable piercer. Click here to find an APP member near you. 

• A piercing is a puncture wound and because of this, it cannot be treated like a surface wound such as a scratch. For this reason, many products that would be safe to use on a surface wound should not be used on a piercing. 

• Additionally, a piercing is a wound that is created in a controlled environment so it does not need to be disinfected in the same way a wound gotten in an uncontrolled environment would need. For example, after getting a cat scratch it is important to immediately disinfect it because the wound was created by something that likely has bacteria on it. For that reason, it’s important to keep your piercing clean and dry but not important to continuously disinfect it with harsh chemicals. Prolonged use of disinfectants will damage your skin’s natural barrier, dry out the tissue, and ultimately prevent your body from healing. 

• These products should never be used on piercings:

1. Alcohol – dries out and damages healing tissue 
2. Hydrogen peroxide – dries out and damages healing tissue
3. Tea tree and other essential oils – dries out and damages healing tissue 
4. Homemade sea salt solution – not sterile, contains bacteria, can either dry out tissue or cause excess moisture depending on concentration of solution and application
5. Bactine – not made for puncture wounds per manufacturer’s instructions
6. Any ointments – clog wound and prevent oxygen from reaching wound
7. Any oils – clog wound and prevent oxygen from reaching wound
8. Soap – overly harsh
9. Sodium bicarbonate – baking soda is found in many saline sprays used for sinuses and can irritate piercings
10. Contact solution – often used instead of sterile saline spray but contains harsh chemicals that are not safe for use on piercings 
11. Basically anything that isn’t sterile saline spray from an aerosol spray can containing 9 mg/ml sodium chloride and/or clean water

• One of the most wonderful things about piercing is that it can allow you to express your individuality. Your body is unique and you deserve piercings that work perfectly for you. Sometimes that means that a piercing you’ve been wanting isn’t suited for your anatomy but that just means that there’s another awesome piercing that will work perfectly for you!

• Your piercer should absolutely never shame you or tell you that your anatomy is “wrong.” 

• If your anatomy is not suited for a specific piercing, it will likely never heal and will often leave a scar from rejection or migration. It’s so important to see a piercer who is willing to be honest with you and help you make a safe and informed decision on which piercing(s) will work best for you. 

• Many piercings can be done in a variety of ways to best suit your anatomy. Sometimes simply shifting placement a bit or using jewelry that suits your anatomy better than another style will allow you to safely have the piercing you’re looking for. 

• While it’s very possible to have any piercing done incorrectly, certain piercings are more anatomy dependent than others. For example, navel and industrial piercings both need a very defined ridge of tissue in order to safely pierce and the angle, jewelry style, and placement can vary significantly from person to person. 

• Your piercing will come into contact with many contaminants throughout an average day and most of them will be rinsed off easily with regular cleaning of your piercing, however, it is important to do your best to keep larger contaminants off of your piercings

• Q tips are probably the most well known source of cotton fibers getting trapped around a piercing. While cotton swabs are not always dangerous to use on piercings and may even be beneficial in some circumstances, they need to be used with extreme caution to avoid causing excess trauma and to avoid getting cotton fibers stuck in and around your piercing/jewelry

• If you have piercings, you’ve probably had hair snag on them once or twice (or a million times) and you probably understand that it’s unrealistic and unavoidable to avoid ever snagging your piercings but it is important to be as cautious as you can be. Try wearing your hair up or in styles that are less likely to catch on your piercings. 

• It’s important to keep your sheets and pillow cases clean while healing a piercing especially if you have pets